Court orders demolition of fire-damaged West Vancouver home

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has issued an order to demolish a fire-damaged waterfront home at 2668 Bellevue Avenue, West Vancouver, following years of legal battles involving its co-owners and the District of West Vancouver. Justice Francesca Marzari granted the District an interlocutory injunction to enforce its 2020 demolition order, citing violations of municipal bylaws and the public interest in upholding the law.

The 6,000-square-foot home, co-owned by Rosa Donna Este and her mother, Mina Esteghamat Ardakani, was damaged in a fire in 2015. The property has been the subject of numerous court proceedings between the co-owners and Dr. Este and her ex-husband, Mehran Taherkhani, who also claimed an interest in the property.

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Dr. Este opposed the demolition,  describing the home as “a beautiful 6,000-square-foot home on the West Vancouver waterfront,” emphasizing the personal and financial investments she had made in attempting to restore it. The decision notes: “The application is opposed by Dr. Este, who argues passionately to save the House from demolition on several grounds, including on the basis that it is a beautiful house, the invalidity or inapplicability of the Demolition Order to the House, and her asserted legal right to obtain permits to restore the House despite the Demolition Order and without her co-owner’s consent.”

However, the court noted that Dr. Este had undertaken demolition and reconstruction work on the property without the required permits and violated the District’s stop-work orders. Justice Marzari found these actions to be clear breaches of the demolition order, stating in her ruling: “Compliance with the law, including the Demolition Order as already tested in this Court, is fundamentally in the public interest.”

The case is the latest development in a prolonged legal saga. Dr. Este argued that the demolition order was no longer applicable because the home was no longer unsafe or derelict following her efforts to repair parts of the structure. She further claimed she had the right to obtain permits to restore the property without the consent of her co-owner, Ms. Esteghamat Ardakani.

Justice Marzari rejected these claims, pointing to previous court rulings that upheld the validity of the demolition order and concluded that any permit application required the consent of all registered owners. The court barred Dr. Este and any associated parties from interfering with the demolition, carrying out any further work on the property. She was also prohibited from coming within 100 feet of the property until the order was carried out. The District must file a formal petition within 30 days to finalize the process. Dr. Este was also ordered to pay the District’s legal costs.

In her decision, Justice Marzari acknowledged the emotional toll of the case but underscored the importance of upholding municipal orders: “With respect to hardship, it is difficult not to feel some sympathy for Dr. Este who has a beautiful house that was destroyed by a fire, and now wants to keep it. However, this is not the type of exceptional case where hardship or some other equitable basis ought to interfere with the requirement to comply with the law.”